Tag Archive | Food Addiction

Food Addiction Never Takes a Holiday

Dec28

So if you have a binge eating disorder or a food addiction, pay close attention to this important message. Okay, just having some fun. I’ve been Christmasing in blizzardy, rural Kansas without wireless service for the past 8 days. It was fantastic!!

The truth is, I love the Christmas holidays because they are so festive and happy. I love the spiritual high, the music and I love the food.

I’m not much of a party girl,  so I don’t have to contend with some of the most tempting holiday fare. I do remember those days, though, and how hard it was to turn down the many offers of food and drink.

Now when I’m celebrating at someone else’s house or party,  I take a few precautions that I’ll share with you.

Beware of friends, family, and anyone with a tray of food who try to bully you into eating when you are not hungry. Be nice but beware.

Food addiction and emotional eating run rampant during the holidays because holidays are packed full of feelings. Some of those feelings will bring you happiness and peace. Others will trigger an uncontrollable urge to eat.

Since there’s still another week to go before New Year’s resolutions promise to undo all the “bad stuff” from the holidays, my advice is to have fun. Truly enjoy yourself. You can do that without stuffing your face–at least some of the time.

When you eat in order to gain the approval of someone you love, you both get hurt. You get angry with yourself and build resentment for the food bully. If you want the food and ask for it, that’s another story, and that’s perfectly fine.

Walk your own path. Walk the path that takes you in the direction of your goal. If what you are doing or planning to do will keep you from achieving your goal,  then you are going the wrong way.

If you have a food addiction, treat that with respect. Food addiction is hard enough without feeling that you are required to sabotage yourself and your valiant efforts in order to please someone.

People do things because of who they are, not because of what someone else does. There is no reason you can’t eat, drink, and be merry like anyone else. Unless you are a food addict.

So keep that in mind all through the holidays and the whole year. Enjoy the food and festivities. Eat something “sinful” and enjoy it. Stuff, stuff, stuff with happiness.

Just because food addiction never takes a holiday doesn’t mean you can’t.

Panic and Food Addiction Triggers

Dec18

One common food addiction trigger is panic. Panic causes one to stop breathing in regular breaths. Regular breathing, and especially deep breathing, is calming.

That’s why people say “Calm down, take a deep breath” when you get agitated and appear panicky. Of course, no one likes to hear that command even if it does work.

Someone with a food addiction and a breathing emergency has a real challenge on their hands. I was reminded of that today when I ran out of a formula I take to help me breathe deeply. Now I know to order an extra bottle of it and make sure I always have a spare on hand.

I was shopping for non-food items in a drugstore that carries food when I fell off the wagon. I had actually run out of my elixir yesterday but had expected the new order to arrive today. It didn’t, which added to the panic.

When your body needs energy, it takes whatever it can get. In the scrambled emotional state of panic, confusion is the only winner. You go after food, water, juice, or any other substitute for air and sleep.

When you are unable to take a deep breath, you can’t yawn, so you can’t sleep. Without rest, the body loses energy and food is an alternate energy source.

It really doesn’t matter what you eat because until you can get the rest your body really needs, every other attempt to satisfy the “hunger” fails.

Some triggers are harder to deal with than others, and some you just have to let pass. These are the ones you must avoid. There is really no other way to deal with them.

Stay out of situations that you know will make you uncomfortable. I’m not saying never take a risk. Food addiction is different. You have to stay ahead of the game.

Good health is a treasure and should be regarded as such. For those struggling with an eating disorder be it emotional eating, binging or a full-blown food addiction, avoiding lose-lose situations is imperative.

There is more than a positive or negative mental attitude involved here. At some point, we all have to take charge of our health and our lives and decide how we want to live. Only then will we have the life of our dreams.

Air is like so many things we can easily take for granted. I don’t have to worry about my having a food addiction like I used to because I like who I am and I have a plan. Today, part of my plan was missing and I felt like I was back at square one.

Thankfully, the rest of the plan is in place and I’ll be back on track in a couple of days. Wake-up calls are good.

Your List of Addictive Foods Can Change

Dec13

Just because you’ve felt an addiction to a particular food doesn’t mean that it will always affect you in the same way.

In fact, foods that once comforted you in times of emotional crisis can lose their appeal and you may never crave them again.

This happened to me with frozen yogurt. When things felt bumpy, I craved something smooth. What worked best was Publix Blackjack Cherry frozen yogurt. When I traveled, I actually worried about what I would do if I had some emotional crisis when I was on the road.

Publix is a Florida company and I traveled outside the state. Can you imagine frozen yogurt being that much of a priority on a road trip? And you know what? It was never an issue, because when I was on a training assignment, I was doing something that fulfilled me.

When I got home though, it was a different story. All the paperwork and getting ready to leave town in two days–it was overwhelming.

I’d stop at Publix on my way back from the airport and pick up half a gallon of Blackjack Cherry. I’d eat the whole carton and then go to bed.

It became a ritual. That food topped my list of addictive foods for years and finally last year I lost my taste for it. I didn’t do anything. It just happened.

Some people think that once you’re addicted to a particular food, you never get over it. But you do. One day you just don’t want it anymore. You don’t really give it up. It’s more like it leaves you.

So don’t be too hard on yourself when you give in to your food addiction or go on an emotional eating binge. Adding guilt won’t make you feel any better.

Just know that everything has a life span, even food addiction. Never give up on yourself. Just keep working on letting go of things that no longer serve you.

Food Addiction and Chili Peppers

Dec11

I was meticulously washing what I had been told at the fresh market were mild peppers. I was planning to bake them in balsamic vinegar and have them for dinner. Not a particularly interesting evening, at least not at the start.

Little did I know that things were going to heat up. I thought nothing of washing the peppers  with my bare hands. After about 15 peppers I began to feel very uncomfortable. Suddenly I began craving my comfort foods.

Trying to ignore my food addiction cravings, the discomfort continued. As I prepared the rest of my meal and put the peppers in the oven, I suddenly recognized the source of my discomfort. My hands were burning.

My cravings soon took a second seat to the pain and then they disappeared completely. After an hour of running cool water over my hands I was forced to call 911.

Determined not to go to the emergency room, I opted for assistance from Poison Control and convinced the 911 operator not to send an ambulance. All this for a few peppers that were definitely not mild.

Four hours later, after following the Poison Control protocol for treating chemical burns and taking what I’m sure was too much Tylenol, I fell asleep with an ice cube in each hand.

I’ve often thought about the power of foods but not in this sense. Usually it’s their connection with some emotional dilemma that relates to a food addiction. Yet here I was at the painful mercy of two dozen chili peppers.

Looking on the bright side, most of the feeling has returned to my hands although my fingertips still have a ways to go. It was actually a frightening experience.

One thing is for sure. Chili peppers will NEVER belong in my addictive food groups.